The goal of the “Living in YOUR Top 1%” interview series is to break down the qualities of people who excel and to show that you can be successful and achieve personal greatness from any starting point in your life. The interview series looks at people from all different careers and industries. Some names will be familiar and others may not. The purpose is to understand and borrow from the “best practices” of winners to develop a roadmap to your TOP 1%. We will share a new story each month.

This week’s guest is Sydney Kelly. Syd is one of my closest friends so it’s an honor to share her story with you. We met in NYC over ten years ago and I was always impressed by her work ethic, ability to build a top 1% support team (her mom died when she was younger), and how much passion she had for the music business. She loves life and appreciates every moment. Today, she is following her passion as the co-owner of City Music Drums, an incredible music and drum store in the UK. Enjoy!

Alissa Finerman: What’s the most important strength you possess that allows you to be successful in your role?
Sydney Kelly: Zero fear of losing anything. Since I have never feared losing anything, I have hardly ever been afraid of experiencing anything. I always love looking back on all the experiences I’ve had and I’m always excited to add more. Additionally, it just makes interactions with people more interesting.

AF: What inspired you to buy a music store/business?
SK: I have always been drawn to anything musical, ie., concerts, the mentality, the fashion, the lifestyle and I love listening to nearly all genres of music. To start a music shop from scratch would have cost about $150k to $200k (main dealers have to buy into each product line). However, in this situation there was a business that was on the brink of folding which provided a great opportunity to buy the accounts at a fraction of the £200k price. Overseeing the business required a basic background in number crunching/various types of financial budgeting skills, which I have, and a musician who had studied, taught, and played music his entire life which describes my business partner and husband.

AF: What motivates you on a daily basis to keep going?
SK: Dreaming about making my next experience happen.

AF: What role do goals play in your life?
SK: I like to see goals as new experiences. Therefore, my goals are what makes me want to wake up and get out of bed everyday. That being said, goals have a very important role in my life. However, I am the type of person who prefers to be spontaneous in every way I live, but unfortunately, that’s not practical in all situations. So in those situations where I cannot be spontaneous, I just switch mental gears and focus…this is possible because I always have the carrot dangling in front of me which of course is the next experience.

AF: What’s the toughest challenge(s) you successfully overcame to start the business?
SK: The toughest challenge I overcame is temporarily putting my social life on hold for this venture. Because I want to turn this business around quickly (within 24 months rather than stretching out the process), I’ve had to give up socializing/networking which is my very favorite activity in life. But this is temporary. Within 24 months the plan is to work 10-12 hours 5 days a week instead of 14-16 hours six days week as we are doing now. This past month is the first month since we bought the business that we are taking Sundays off (we have our first staff member working Sundays), so gradually we are meeting our goals and targets.

AF: What are some of your most meaningful accomplishments?
SK: I consider all of my experiences the most meaningful accomplishments as they have all had a part in shaping who I am today and how open I am to new things. Some of the best experiences include:
* Living in the UK is one of the most meaningful because this is where I met my husband, who is my best friend (we got married under a full moon on the Brooklyn Bridge in NY)
* Dancing on stage with Grace Jones and Bono before a huge audience
* Moving to France for 2 years as I now have a never ending appreciation for food and wine
* Event Coordinating and working in the hottest night clubs in NYC as I met tons of wonderful people and had great times
* Hitting the black diamonds on day one of snow boarding as it gave me the courage to do all other exciting sports (2 wheeling on cliffs, going down damns, scuba diving, etc)
* Selling and buying real estate because it was a thrill finding the worst houses on the block and fixing them up and making a profit
* Being a successful Mortgage Banker because now I understand the banking industry and know how to approach banks and get all types of loans
* Working on Wall Street and being able to spend time with those working in Mayfair & Canary Wharf to understand their ‘shop-talk’ – understanding this language is definitely a meaningful accomplishment as it required a few years of learning to understand it
* And there is no question… maintaining relationships with some amazing people rank at the very top.

AF: What do the top performers do differently to excel?
SK: They take risks in life. Personally, I am prepared to take all sorts of risks because at the end of the day, as long as I have myself and great friends, losing anything else just doesn’t matter that much.

The “Top 1%er” interview series is presented by Alissa Finerman, an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

The goal of the “Living in YOUR Top 1%” interview series is to break down the qualities of people who excel and to show that you can be successful and achieve personal greatness from any starting point in your life. The interview series looks at people from all different careers and industries. Some names will be familiar and others may not. The purpose is to understand and borrow from the “best practices” of winners to develop a roadmap to your TOP 1%. We will share a new story every two weeks.

This week’s guest is Stacey Gualandi. She is currently the host of The Women’s Eye Radio Show on 1480KPHX, and contributor to the website www.thewomenseye.com. Both provide an avenue for today’s newsmakers, authors, journalists, and entrepreneurs to discuss how they are making a difference in “the world as we see it”!

She developed her gutsy style of reporting at AMERICAN JOURNAL and for eight years at INSIDE EDITION. Stacey covered the world of entertainment, particularly celebrities at work, at play and in trouble. From the Super Bowl, junkets, movie sets, premieres and court cases (including Blake, Jackson and Simpson), to award shows like the Oscars, Grammys, SAG’s, Golden Globes and the Emmy’s, Stacey has rarely faced a celebrity story she couldn’t cover effectively. She decided to move to Hollywood to be an entertainment reporter
after she was Molly Ringwald’s stand-in on the film Fresh Horses.

Alissa Finerman: 1. What’s the most important strength you possess that allows you to be successful in your role?Stacey Gualandi: My biggest strength that has allowed me to be successful in my role as a reporter is not being afraid to adapt. While I found
some success in an unconventional way, I never gave up, or listened to people who said I couldn’t do it that way. And even though there have been many times where I have failed, or when it has taken longer than I hoped to reach my goal, I remained in hot pursuit.

2. What motivates you on a daily basis to keep going?
SG: Receiving some sort of recognition or positive feedback is what drives me on a daily basis to keep going. When I see a story that I’ve reported on, or a show that I’ve hosted, or a print piece that I’ve written, it motivates me to do it again. And if I’m personally happy with the results, its a wonderful feeling! To feel that sense of accomplishment makes me want to keep going. And when the reaction is positive from others, there’s no stopping me!! ha. I get the most satisfaction and do my best work when I know I’m helping someone, and that person is pleased with the finished product.

3. What role do goals play in your life? Tell us a few words about your goal setting process.
SG: As I look at my past, I have been most productive and successful when I’ve set goals for myself. My process is to write my goal(s) down on paper. It seems to make me commit if it’s in writing. After graduating from college, I picked up and went to Hollywood without a job. My goal was to become an entertainment reporter by age 30. Normally one would start in a small market, but instead, I set out to become an effective writer/producer… networking, patience, working hard. It was a slower, yet step-by-step
process – paying my dues as they say! I made it with 4 months to spare!

4. What separates a good vs a great reporter?
SG: I think the difference between a good reporter and a great reporter is the ability to listen, be compassionate and be versatile. I think you have to be dedicated to preparation, research, and writing skills. I genuinely care about people. It’s also essential to put people at ease and to make them feel that they are in safe, trusting hands. That is always my intent. And to trust your gut.

5. What’s the toughest challenge(s) you successfully overcame?
SG: I think the biggest challenge that I am still trying to overcome is the passing of my Dad to cancer right before Christmas in 2009. For seven years, cancer was always on our minds, and I tried and succeeded at times to find
him the best care. But the last year of his life, I could no longer help my Dad. The cancer had taken over and I was devastated at not being able to control what was happening. It has been 18 months, and what is helping me
to move forward is not giving up, do what I can to keep busy and productive, and to participate in causes in honor of my dad. I still want to make him proud. (Stacey just participated in a cycling fundraiser that raised over $167,000 for Thinkcure.org.)

6. What are some of your most meaningful accomplishments?
SG: I have a few meaningful accomplishments that keep me inspired!
* Completing my first marathon. For my 40th bithday, my goal (and present to myself) was to complete my first marathon. I did it in 4.5 hours!!!
* Becoming an on-air reporter by 30.
* Becoming a certified yoga/spin instructor for YAS Fitness Centers after I was laid off from my last full-time job, and needing perhaps a reinvention while I figured out my next goals. I barely knew how to do yoga!! It was really really really challenging, and it seemed to open some emotional floodgates, but I came out the other end fit, calmer, and proud of myself.
* Starting the Hollywood Chapter of Dining for Women. I had participated in some charity work, but this spoke to me and has helped me give back.

7. What do the top performers do differently to excel?
SG: The top performers do not give up. They look at failure as an inspiration to try again, and plain and simple, believe in themself.

To learn more about Stacey, please visit The Women’s Eye. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Stacey and she is extremely gracious, energetic, engaging, and prepared (listen to our interview) .

The “Top 1%er” interview series is presented by Alissa Finerman, a Professional Life Coach, motivational speaker, and author of the book, “Living in Your Top 1%: Nine Essential Rituals to Achieve Your Ultimate Life Goals” which is available on Amazon.com. She has an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. To learn more please visit, www.AlissaFinerman.com or Facebook.

The goal of the “Living in Your Top 1%” interview series is to break down the qualities of people who excel and to show that you can be successful and achieve personal greatness from any starting point in your life. The interview series looks at people from all different careers and industries. Some names will be familiar and others may not. The purpose is to understand and borrow from the “best practices” of winners to develop a roadmap to your TOP 1%. We will share a new story every two weeks.

This week’s guest is Allan Sahagun. I spent time with Allan at the Milken Institute Global Conference in LA in May. He is a determined, smart, and incredibly nice person who is already making a difference in this world and he’s just getting started. He is an amazing example of redefining what’s possible from any starting point (both of his parents are immigrants). Allan founded Alumwire (he recently successfully exited the company) from his Harvard Universtity dorm room alongside his brother Aaron Sahagun and Geoffrey Lee while they were on the other side of the country attending UC Berkeley. Allan was named by Businessweek as one of “The Top 25 Young Entrepreneurs” and was featured in The Boston Globe as one of the “Best of the New People and Ideas.”

Enjoying the Milken Conference with Allan

Alissa Finerman: 1. What’s the most important strength you possess that allows you to be successful in your role?
Allan Sahagun: As an entrepreneur, the core strengths that have allowed me to be successful are self-belief with professional humility. You have to really believe in yourself – entrepreneurship requires a tremendous amount of confidence in your ability in order to bring something to life. Not everyone is crazy enough to believe that they can build castles out of air, but an entrepreneur has to be. At the same time, you also have to possess the humility to say, I do not currently know the answer to something, or I do not have the skill to accomplish this, but I can learn and I need to find someone to help me. That’s an extremely challenging thing to do, because most of us want to believe we can do everything, we want to believe that we are an island. But no man is an island. The sooner I realized that, the faster I headed towards achieving my goal as an entrepreneur.

2. What motivates and inspires you on a daily basis to keep going?
AS: Ross Perot has a quote that I really like: “Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment.” It’s really easy to rest on your laurels and believe that just because you did something right once, that you can begin to cruise and not have to work as hard, since you’ve already accomplished something. There couldn’t be anything further than the truth. While it’s important to recognize that you have talent – it’s that talent that got you started in the first place – talent alone is not enough. The harsh truth of life is everyone is talented. At the end of the day the person who works harder than you will accomplish more. I have a hand-made sign in my room that says “Talent is not enough. Work harder.” That motivates me.

3. What role has mindset played in paving the way for what you have accomplished?
AS: Mindset is everything. You win or lose in your mind before you even start playing. There’s a quote that I really like “Losers quit when they’re tired. Winners quit when they’ve won.” You have to believe the impossible is possible, and the minute you do that you are one step closer to accomplishing that goal. You just have to keep pushing until you get there. One day, you will get there. Often times, the only reason people don’t accomplish what they perceive as impossible is because they stopped too soon. If you can muster the drive to continue pushing, reaching, and working towards that goal, it’s just a matter of time before it becomes a reality.

4. What role do goals play in your life? Tell us a few words about your goal setting process.
AS: Goals are important because you need to continue moving in life. I live life as if I am crossing a desert. There’s a powerful image from The Alchemist that comes to mind: “Once you get into the desert there’s no going back. And when you can’t go back you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward.” Retreating is just as hard as – if not harder than – moving forward. You must be decisive and figure out the best way to move forward.

When I set goals, I first think about what I want from life. I contemplate whether or not it’s something I want to do. I need to buy into the idea before I seek it out. Then I write the goal down. I need to see what the goal looks like, outside of my head. It needs to manifest itself in some form. Then I tell someone. At this point I am now accountable to myself and to someone else to accomplish the goal. It often helps to have the person I share my goal with also share one of their goals with me. This way we create a support system for each other and achieving the goal becomes that much more possible.

5. What’s the toughest challenge(s) you successfully overcame?
AS: Taking the unconventional route of pursuing an entrepreneurial path as a teenager was one of the toughest challenges I have successfully overcome. Bringing a business to life is a difficult task, but doing it at such a young age when the odds are really stacked against you can feel insurmountable at times. As a young business owner you always have to be focused, ready and prepared for whatever may come your way. The best way for me to move forward is to acknowledge that while I may not know everything, the answers are out there – I just have to be humble enough to seek them out. Having mentors in my life has been instrumental in me growing and acquiring the necessary skills to start and run businesses at such a young age.

6. What’s the best way you have found to motivate employees?
AS: At the end of the day, my employees are my teammates. We have to work together in order to win. Winning is a team effort, no single person can drive a company to the top. One person can pose great influence, but at the end of the day it is the team that drives success and each member of the team should feel that sense of accountability and reward.

7. What are some of your most meaningful accomplishments?
AS: The most meaningful part of being an entrepreneur is seeing something that was just an idea become a reality. Knowing that what I helped conceptualize is now creating jobs and opportunities for people is truly rewarding. At the end of the day, life is about the impact that you make. Knowing that I have been a positive force in people’s lives is beyond rewarding.

8. What are the qualities that help the top performers excel?
AS: (1) Mental discipline: Mental discipline is necessary because it is key to accomplishing any goal – you have to be able to put your stake in the ground and say, “This is what I want. I will achieve this goal by doing x, y, and z and I will not stop until I get there.”
(2) Heart: When your body is too tired to continue, you need heart to keep you going. It inspires your teammates and the people who are instrumental in helping you achieving your goal. Their heart also lifts you up when you need it most.
(3) Curiosity: Curiosity makes life interesting. Asking questions and constantly trying to think of why things are the way they are forces you to generate creative solutions to challenges and think outside of the box.
(4) Courage: The willingness to seek out the answers and not being afraid of what you will find. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”

The “Top 1%er” interview series is presented by Alissa Finerman, an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

The goal of the “Living in Your Top 1%” interview series is to break down the qualities of people who excel and to show that you can be successful and achieve personal greatness from any starting point in your life. The interview series looks at people from all different careers and industries. Some names will be familiar and others may not. The purpose is to understand and borrow from the “best practices” of winners to develop a roadmap to your TOP 1%. We will share a new story every two weeks.

This week’s guest is Jennifer Pastiloff. Her story is one of inspiration, courage, and passion and shows that it is possible to change paths and do what you love. She is an ambassador for Lululemon, founder of GameYoga.org, and a master yoga teacher who leads workshops all over the world. She is one of my favorite yoga teachers and sources of inspiration. She shows that it is definitely possible to re-write your story.* Since we did this interview, Jen has appeared on Good Morning America, been invited as a VIP guest to Oprah’s Life Class in NYC, and has interviewed some movers and shakers on her site including the best-selling author and spiritual teacher Wayne Dyer and Christy Turlington, founder of Every Mother Counts.

Alissa Finerman 1. What’s the most important strength you possess that allows you to be successful in your role?
Jennifer Pastiloff: Compassion. I have been nicknamed the ” Connector” and I believe it’s my compassion for others which has led me to this role of teacher/connector. I also have a sense of humor. I laugh at myself a lot. It is KEY in my teachings. I have a rule in my classes that I live by as well: “If you fall, you must laugh.” I also live by the question, “How may I serve?” A big thing I believe in is picking others up and helping others shine their light. “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ( Marianne Williamson)

2. What inspired you to change careers and become a yoga teacher?
JP: Honestly, I was severely depressed and yoga saved my life, so to speak. People who knew me suggested because of my personality and my love for yoga that I might enjoy teaching. I was not interested at all until I taught my first class. Then, I knew I had found my bliss.

3. What motivates you on a daily basis to keep going?
JP: Seeing the breakthroughs my students keep having, mostly off the mat! Also, seeing that I have true power in manifesting what I want in my life and wanting to share that endlessly with people, especially those that are stuck, as I was, for years and years.

4. What role do goals play in your life? Tell us a few words about your goal setting process.
JP: Goals are a fairly new idea to me. Until recently I did everything impulsively and on a whim. Now, I create vision boards and from there set goals based on 1, 5, and 10 yr increments in the areas of Health, Career, and Personal Growth. I am also very compassionate towards myself so if a goal doesn’t come to fruition, I do not beat myself up, but rather re-evaluate and relax. I spent way too many years beating myself up and, frankly, that never got me the results I wanted.

5. What’s the toughest challenge(s) you successfully overcame?
JP: I overcame a major eating disorder (anorexia) and I also have a major hearing problem (I wear a hearing aid) so that is something I still deal with on a daily basis.

6. What are some of your most meaningful accomplishments?
JP: 1) Leaving my job of 13 years as a waitress to become a successful yoga teacher in Los Angeles, leading sold out workshops all over the world, and being an ambassador for Lululemon
2) Creating GameYoga.org which gives free yoga to kids with special needs after my nephew was diagnosed with Prader Willi Syndrome
3) Getting picked as one of ten young poets in the Nation to get a writing fellowship at Bucknell University for the summer while I was at NYU (Stadler Center for Poetry)
4) Creating Manifestation Yoga and helping people manifest what they truly want in their lives
5) Having the charity I started, GameYoga.org, be featured in the Huffington Post

7. What do the top performers/students do differently to excel?
JP: Walk the talk. I teach certain principles and I believe that people who excel live by these principles: thinking FROM the end, not about it; letting go of what is no longer serving them; visualizing what they want and acting AS IF; following through and committing to their own word; and being specific in what they ask for! And most importantly, being honest with oneself.

The “Living in YOUR Top 1%” interview series is presented by Alissa Finerman, an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

The goal of the “Living in YOUR Top 1%” interview series is to break down the qualities of people who excel and to show that you can be successful and achieve personal greatness from any starting point in your life. The interview series will look at people from all different careers and industries. Some names will be familiar and others may not. The purpose is to understand and borrow from the “best practices” of winners to develop a roadmap to your TOP 1%. We will share a new story every two weeks.

This week’s guest is Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. a motivational psychologist, researcher, and author of the new book, Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals. She is also an expert blogger on motivation and leadership for Fast Company, SmartBrief, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and a regular contributor to the BBC World Service’s Business Daily.

ALISSA FINERMAN 1. What’s the most important strength you possess that allows you to be successful in your role?
HEIDI GRANT HALVORSON: I am all about planning, and I think it has helped me enormously. I write a lot about the benefits of planning in my book and blogs, partly because the scientific evidence for it is so strong, and partly because I rely so much on planning in my own life. I have a surprisingly terrible memory, and I’m someone who tends to take on way too many projects at once, so planning out in advance exactly when I’m going to do what for each project or each goal is essential.

2. Tell me about some of the daily thoughts that inspire and motivate you to keep going?
HGH: The science of psychology is filled with useful information about how people can live happier, more productive, more satisfying and healthier lives – and far too few people know about it, because academics tend to write about their findings in a way that makes them confusing and dull. It’s so rewarding to me to be a part of translating those findings into a format that people can understand and use – I am constantly inspired by the responses I receive from readers who feel they’ve benefited from it.

3. How do you prepare for an important project in your life?
HGH: Well, again it’s really all about planning. I’m the kind of person who thinks about how everything might go wrong, and then figures out how to keep that from happening. Thinking through all the possibilities leaves me feeling more confident that I can tackle whatever comes my way.

4. What role do goals play in your life?
HGH: A huge role! One thing I’ve found to be incredibly helpful when I set goals for myself is to try to be as specific as I can possibly be. When my goals are too vague (e.g., “lose some weight” instead of “lose 5 pounds”) I find that I’m not nearly as successful reaching them – they leave me too much wiggle room, and I don’t feel as motivated.

5. What’s the toughest challenge you successfully overcame?
HGH: Leaving behind a career in academia to become a full-time writer and speaker was a big challenge. It was a terrifying leap into the unknown for me, and I had never taken a risk like that before. But I couldn’t be happier with that decision.

6. What are some of your most meaningful accomplishments?
HGH: Getting my PhD, being a mom, selling my first book, and somehow balancing all these things without completely going crazy (though I have my moments).

7. What role does mindset play to separate those who excel?
HGH: I don’t think it can be exaggerated – “innate ability,” to the extent there is such a thing, does not predict at all who will cope with difficulty well, and who will crumble in the face of a challenge and give up on themselves way too soon. Our beliefs, on the other hand, are very good predictors of who will rise to the challenge – and the key seems to be believing that you can always learn and improve, that growth is always possible, and that great performance comes, more than anything else, from effort and persistence. These beliefs are not only more motivating – they also turn out to be true!

8. What do the top performers do differently to excel?
HGH: They have, in a word, grit. They commit to long term goals, and they persist when the going gets rough. They believe in themselves, but are willing to face the fact that nothing worth doing comes easily, and there will be obstacles to overcome. They think about exactly what they want, and get specific about what they will need to do – the concrete actions they will need to take – in order to get there.

The “Living in YOUR Top 1%” interview series is presented by Alissa Finerman, an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook